DOCSLIB.ORG

Equity Vs. Efficiency and the Human Right to Water

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Equity Vs. Efficiency and the Human Right to Water water Article Equity vs. Efficiency and the Human Right to Water Manuel Prieto Departamento de Ciencias Históricas y Geográficas, Universidad de Tarapacá, Arica 1000965, Chile; [email protected] Abstract: One of the most crucial discussions within water resource management is the debate between those who defend the concept of economic efficiency and those who privilege notions of social equity. This tension is located at the core of binary categories that currently constitute the public debate within comparative water law and policy. These categories are commodity/human right, private property/common property, free-market/state regulation, and market value/community value. This paper explores this tension by studying how neoclassical economics understands ef- ficiency and tracing its rise as a key hegemonic principle for water resource management. I also present equity as a conceptual opposition to efficiency and describe its institutionalization through the human-right-to-water frame. A problematization of both the equity approach and the human- right-to-water frame follows. Finally, I propose a political ecology approach to better understand the tension between efficiency and equity and offer recommendations for informing the water research agenda on efficiency/equity. Keywords: water policy; equity; economic efficiency; human right to water 1. Introduction Citation: Prieto, M. Equity vs. In 1967, Maurice Kelso [1], alarmed by the lack of a market in Arizona that would Efficiency and the Human Right to facilitate water transfers from agriculture to highest value uses, wrote a pioneering defense Water. Water 2021, 13, 278. https:// for the commodification of water. In his opinion, water had become subject to what he doi.org/10.3390/w13030278 calls the “water-is-different syndrome”. By this concept, he meant that water had become imprisoned by several myths claiming it could not be privatized, was outside ordinary Academic Editors: Bruce M. Wilson, market mechanisms, and was priceless. In Kelso’s opinion, water is “not different” and Malcolm Langford and should be treated as an ordinary commodity. He argues that this statement is a fact that Rebecca Schiel can be objectively confirmed by experience and perspectives that defend the idea that Received: 12 December 2020 “water-is-different” are grounded in false judgments based on subjective beliefs. For Accepted: 21 January 2021 Published: 24 January 2021 Kelso, “subjective belief[s] about water [ ... ] are not nature-imposed imperatives but dictates of their own emotions which, also, if taken too seriously, can imperil society” [1], Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral p. 177. What imperils society is that the “water-is-different syndrome” poses a serious with regard to jurisdictional claims in obstacle to optimum overall economic efficiency. In sum, for Kelso, water is objectively published maps and institutional affil- a commodity, while any other perspective is subjective and endangers efficiency and, iations. consequently, society. In Arizona, the same place where Kelso identified the “water-is-different syndrome”, the Tohono O’odham (Native American people of the Sonoran Desert (currently in the U.S. state of Arizona and the Mexican state of Sonora)) hold a ritual called the viikita every four years. The viikita aims to ensure copious rains and abundant water for Tohono Copyright: © 2021 by the author. O’odham crops. Observing this ritual and other collective practices carried out by the Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article Tohono O’odham and by the Hispanic communities of the Southwest, Helen Ingram asserts distributed under the terms and that they constitute a form of collective power over water, illustrating what she calls the conditions of the Creative Commons “community value of water” [2]. The community value of water supposes a collective social Attribution (CC BY) license (https:// organization and management of water in order to ensure social equity. creativecommons.org/licenses/by/ Thus, Kelso and Ingram—two scholars studying the same phenomenon, water man- 4.0/). agement in Arizona, at the same university—arrived at radically different conclusions. For Water 2021, 13, 278. https://doi.org/10.3390/w13030278 https://www.mdpi.com/journal/water Water 2021, 13, 278 2 of 18 Kelso [1], the community value of water is a syndrome that threatens economic efficiency insofar as it impedes water flowing from Tohono O’odham agriculture toward highest value uses. However, for Ingram [2], the community value of water ensures social equity which, in fact, is threatened by utilitarian perspectives on economic efficiency that reduce the value of water to a price [3]. The above discussion illustrates an important tension within contemporary water resource management: the tension between the concepts of efficiency and equity. This tension is not isolated from other relevant discussions, and indeed it is at the core of the binary categories that currently constitute the debate within comparative water law and policy. These are commodity/human right, private property/common property, free market/state regulation, and market value/community value. This paper explores the basic tension between equity and efficiency. Following this introduction, the second section describes the neoclassical economics understanding of efficiency and demonstrates that this concept has become naturalized through a scientific perspective, moralized by a utilitarian approach, and institutionalized by the law and economics model. In what follows, I first explore how the idea of economic efficiency has become a key hegemonic principle for water resource management. Second, I analyze the main problems with the overemphasis on efficiency in water resource management. Third, I present the idea of equity as a conceptual opposition to efficiency and its institutionalization through the human-right-to-water frame. Fourth, I problematize both the equity approach and the human-right-to-water frame. Finally, I propose a political ecology approach for a better understanding of the efficiency/equity tension. This is followed by four recommendations for informing the water research agenda on efficiency/equity. 2. Economic Efficiency: What It Is, and How It Became Natural, Moral, and Institutionalized In simple terms, efficiency describes a situation where a certain level of utility (i.e., a measure of satisfaction) is reached by maximizing resources in the least expensive way possible. Under the basic assumption that utility can be measured objectively, orthodox economic theory stopped focusing on ordinal efficiency (i.e., where no other allocation of goods improves all agents) during the nineteenth century and adopted a model of cardinal utility (i.e., the satisfaction of a commodity allocation can be measured with a numeric value). This turning point allowed both interpersonal and aggregative measures of welfare and, consequently, comparisons between different states of society. Based on this assumption, the concept of economic efficiency became the hegemonic foundation for any collective action regarding economic regulation in general and natural resource policy in particular. The perspective of law and economics, replacing traditional standards of fairness and justice, uses the concept of economic efficiency as the primary standard for any legal decision, no matter if it is directly related to economic issues. Within this context, the Kaldor–Hicks potential compensation test is the dominant formulation used as a standard for cost-benefit analysis in policy prescriptions [4,5]. In brief, for heterodox economics, efficiency equals Kaldor–Hicks compensation. In this section, I will, first, explain the Pareto efficiency criterion as the base upon which the Kaldor–Hicks test is formulated, which is explained later. The influence of this efficiency imaginary has been significant for understanding both the post-Washington Consensus water reforms and critiques of them. The Washington Consensus is a set of neoliberal economic policy prescriptions for developing countries. The term refers to the level of agreement between Washington, D.C.-based institutions such as the International Monetary Fund, World Bank, and the U.S. Department of the Treasury. The prescriptions promote a free market and minimal state. For details, see Conca [6]. 2.1. The Efficiency Standards: Pareto and Kaldor–Hicks Pareto [7] formulated the most classic and influential conceptualization of efficiency. Interpreted in a broad sense, Pareto efficiency exists when no alteration in the current state of resource allocation in society could make at least one member better off without making Water 2021, 13, 278 3 of 18 someone else worse off. Consequently, Pareto improvement exists as long as winners in an allocation decision compensate the losers and retain a surplus. Translated into policy terms, at a social level, when the possibilities of making a Pareto improvement are zero, society is organized under an efficient model of resource allocation that cannot be modified without making someone worse off. However, legal changes inevitably produce winners and losers; they promote some members’ well-being at a cost to others. This situation is why, as formulated above, the Pareto criterion can only be a standard in an ideal society [5,8]. Pareto’s ideal scenario is transformed into a realistic one by the Kaldor–Hicks test. This test sees efficiency as a situation where no reallocation of resources could increase the total social welfare. In this sense, a Kaldor–Hicks
Load more

Recommended publications
  • An Analysis of the Graded Property Tax Robert M
    TaxingTaxing Simply Simply District of Columbia Tax Revision Commission TaxingTaxing FairlyFairly Full Report District of Columbia Tax Revision Commission 1755 Massachusetts Avenue, NW, Suite 550 Washington, DC 20036 Tel: (202) 518-7275 Fax: (202) 466-7967 www.dctrc.org The Authors Robert M. Schwab Professor, Department of Economics University of Maryland College Park, Md. Amy Rehder Harris Graduate Assistant, Department of Economics University of Maryland College Park, Md. Authors’ Acknowledgments We thank Kim Coleman for providing us with the assessment data discussed in the section “The Incidence of a Graded Property Tax in the District of Columbia.” We also thank Joan Youngman and Rick Rybeck for their help with this project. CHAPTER G An Analysis of the Graded Property Tax Robert M. Schwab and Amy Rehder Harris Introduction In most jurisdictions, land and improvements are taxed at the same rate. The District of Columbia is no exception to this general rule. Consider two homes in the District, each valued at $100,000. Home A is a modest home on a large lot; suppose the land and structures are each worth $50,000. Home B is a more sub- stantial home on a smaller lot; in this case, suppose the land is valued at $20,000 and the improvements at $80,000. Under current District law, both homes would be taxed at a rate of 0.96 percent on the total value and thus, as Figure 1 shows, the owners of both homes would face property taxes of $960.1 But property can be taxed in many ways. Under a graded, or split-rate, tax, land is taxed more heavily than structures.
    [Show full text]
  • Fictitious Commodities: a Theory of Intellectual Property Inspired by Karl Polanyi’S “Great Transformation”
    Fordham Intellectual Property, Media and Entertainment Law Journal Volume 29 XXIX Number 4 Article 4 2019 Fictitious Commodities: A Theory of Intellectual Property Inspired by Karl Polanyi’s “Great Transformation” Alexander Peukert Goethe University, Frankfurt, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://ir.lawnet.fordham.edu/iplj Part of the Intellectual Property Law Commons, International Law Commons, and the Science and Technology Law Commons Recommended Citation Alexander Peukert, Fictitious Commodities: A Theory of Intellectual Property Inspired by Karl Polanyi’s “Great Transformation”, 29 Fordham Intell. Prop. Media & Ent. L.J. 1151 (2019). Available at: https://ir.lawnet.fordham.edu/iplj/vol29/iss4/4 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by FLASH: The Fordham Law Archive of Scholarship and History. It has been accepted for inclusion in Fordham Intellectual Property, Media and Entertainment Law Journal by an authorized editor of FLASH: The Fordham Law Archive of Scholarship and History. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Fictitious Commodities: A Theory of Intellectual Property Inspired by Karl Polanyi’s “Great Transformation” Cover Page Footnote Professor Dr. iur., Goethe University, Frankfurt am Main, [email protected]. This article is available in Fordham Intellectual Property, Media and Entertainment Law Journal: https://ir.lawnet.fordham.edu/iplj/vol29/iss4/4 Fictitious Commodities: A Theory of Intellectual Property Inspired by Karl Polanyi’s “Great Transformation” Alexander Peukert* The puzzle this Article addresses is this: how can it be explained that intellectual property (IP) laws and IP rights (IPRs) have continuously grown in number and expanded in scope, territorial reach, and duration, while at the same time have been contested, much more so than other branches of property law? This Article offers an explanation for this peculiar dynamic by applying insights and concepts of Karl Polanyi’s book “The Great Transformation” to IP.
    [Show full text]
  • Water Privatization in Developing Countries: Principles, Implementations and Socio-Economic Consequences
    Available online at www.worldscientificnews.com WSN 10 (2015) 17-31 EISSN 2392-2192 Water privatization in developing countries: Principles, implementations and socio-economic consequences Sayan Bhattacharya1,*, Ayantika Banerjee2 1Department of Environmental Studies, Rabindra Bharati University, Kolkata, India 2Department of Environmental science, Asutosh College, Kolkata, India *E-mail address: [email protected] , [email protected] ABSTRACT Water related problems are continuously affecting the social infrastructures and jeopardizing the productivity of modern globalized society. As the water crisis intensifies, several governments around the world are advocating a radical solution: the privatization, commoditization and mass diversion of water. Water privatization involves transferring of water resources control and/or water management services to private companies. The water management service may include operation and management, bill collection, treatment, distribution of water and waste water treatment in a community. The privatization of water has already happened in several developed countries and is being pushed in many developing countries through structural adjustment policies. Water privatization will invariably increase the price of this common property resource because there are hidden costs involved in water collection, purification and distribution systems. Increase in water consumption will be satisfied through the market dynamics often at the cost of the poor who cannot afford the increased water tariffs. The corporations will recover their costs by exploiting the consumers irrespective of their economic conditions. Another possible threat of water privatization is the unsustainable water extraction by the water corporations for maximizing profits and subsequent destructions of water bodies and aquifers. Corporations in search of profits can compromise on water quality in order to reduce costs.
    [Show full text]
  • Horizontal Equity Effects in Energy Regulation
    NBER WORKING PAPER SERIES HORIZONTAL EQUITY EFFECTS IN ENERGY REGULATION Carolyn Fischer William A. Pizer Working Paper 24033 http://www.nber.org/papers/w24033 NATIONAL BUREAU OF ECONOMIC RESEARCH 1050 Massachusetts Avenue Cambridge, MA 02138 November 2017, Revised July 2018 Previously circulated as "Equity Effects in Energy Regulation." Carolyn Fischer is Senior Fellow at Resources for the Future ([email protected]); Professor at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam; Marks Visiting Professor at Gothenburg University; Visiting Senior Researcher at Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei; and CESifo Research Network Fellow. William A. Pizer is Susan B. King Professor of Public Policy, Sanford School, and Faculty Fellow, Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions, Duke University ([email protected]); University Fellow, Resources for the Future; Research Associate, National Bureau of Economic Research. Fischer is grateful for the support of the European Community’s Marie Sk odowska–Curie International Incoming Fellowship, “STRATECHPOL – Strategic Clean Technology Policies for Climate Change,” financed under the EC Grant Agreement PIIF-GA-2013-623783. This work was supported by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, Grant G-2016-20166028. The views expressed herein are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Bureau of Economic Research. NBER working papers are circulated for discussion and comment purposes. They have not been peer-reviewed or been subject to the review by the NBER Board of Directors that accompanies official NBER publications. © 2017 by Carolyn Fischer and William A. Pizer. All rights reserved. Short sections of text, not to exceed two paragraphs, may be quoted without explicit permission provided that full credit, including © notice, is given to the source.
    [Show full text]
  • Distinction Between Privatization of Services and Commodification of Goods: the Case of the Water Supply in Porto Alegre Rafael Flores
    Distinction between privatization of services and commodification of goods: the case of the water supply in Porto Alegre Rafael Flores To cite this version: Rafael Flores. Distinction between privatization of services and commodification of goods: the case of the water supply in Porto Alegre. 11th edition of the World Wide Workshop for Young Environmental Scientists (WWW-YES-2011) - Urban Waters: resource or risks?, Jun 2011, Arcueil, France. hal- 00607834 HAL Id: hal-00607834 https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00607834 Submitted on 11 Jul 2011 HAL is a multi-disciplinary open access L’archive ouverte pluridisciplinaire HAL, est archive for the deposit and dissemination of sci- destinée au dépôt et à la diffusion de documents entific research documents, whether they are pub- scientifiques de niveau recherche, publiés ou non, lished or not. The documents may come from émanant des établissements d’enseignement et de teaching and research institutions in France or recherche français ou étrangers, des laboratoires abroad, or from public or private research centers. publics ou privés. Distinction between privatization of services and commodification of goods: the case of the water supply in Porto Alegre Rafael Kruter FLORES* * Postgraduate Program of Administration, Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, Washington Luís, 855, Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. (E-mail: [email protected]) Abstract One of the main debates regarding urban water in the last years concerns the privatization of water and sewage services. The critique of the privatization of the services is usually associated with the critique of the commodification of the good. This paper makes a conceptual distinction between both processes, reflecting on the case of the city of Porto Alegre, Brazil.
    [Show full text]
  • Journal of Mathematical Economics Implementation of Pareto Efficient Allocations
    Journal of Mathematical Economics 45 (2009) 113–123 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Journal of Mathematical Economics journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/jmateco Implementation of Pareto efficient allocations Guoqiang Tian a,b,∗ a Department of Economics, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843, USA b School of Economics and Institute for Advanced Research, Shanghai University of Finance and Economics, Shanghai 200433, China. article info abstract Article history: This paper considers Nash implementation and double implementation of Pareto effi- Received 10 October 2005 cient allocations for production economies. We allow production sets and preferences Received in revised form 17 July 2008 are unknown to the planner. We present a well-behaved mechanism that fully imple- Accepted 22 July 2008 ments Pareto efficient allocations in Nash equilibrium. The mechanism then is modified Available online 5 August 2008 to fully doubly implement Pareto efficient allocations in Nash and strong Nash equilibria. The mechanisms constructed in the paper have many nice properties such as feasibility JEL classification: C72 and continuity. In addition, they use finite-dimensional message spaces. Furthermore, the D61 mechanism works not only for three or more agents, but also for two-agent economies. D71 © 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. D82 Keywords: Incentive mechanism design Implementation Pareto efficiency Price equilibrium with transfer 1. Introduction 1.1. Motivation This paper considers implementation of Pareto efficient allocations for production economies by presenting well-behaved and simple mechanisms that are continuous, feasible, and use finite-dimensional spaces. Pareto optimality is a highly desir- able property in designing incentive compatible mechanisms. The importance of this property is attributed to what may be regarded as minimal welfare property.
    [Show full text]
  • Arxiv:0803.2996V1 [Q-Fin.GN] 20 Mar 2008 JEL Classification: A10, A12, B0, B40, B50, C69, C9, D5, D1, G1, G10-G14
    The virtues and vices of equilibrium and the future of financial economics J. Doyne Farmer∗ and John Geanakoplosy December 2, 2008 Abstract The use of equilibrium models in economics springs from the desire for parsimonious models of economic phenomena that take human rea- soning into account. This approach has been the cornerstone of modern economic theory. We explain why this is so, extolling the virtues of equilibrium theory; then we present a critique and describe why this approach is inherently limited, and why economics needs to move in new directions if it is to continue to make progress. We stress that this shouldn't be a question of dogma, but should be resolved empir- ically. There are situations where equilibrium models provide useful predictions and there are situations where they can never provide use- ful predictions. There are also many situations where the jury is still out, i.e., where so far they fail to provide a good description of the world, but where proper extensions might change this. Our goal is to convince the skeptics that equilibrium models can be useful, but also to make traditional economists more aware of the limitations of equilib- rium models. We sketch some alternative approaches and discuss why they should play an important role in future research in economics. Key words: equilibrium, rational expectations, efficiency, arbitrage, bounded rationality, power laws, disequilibrium, zero intelligence, mar- ket ecology, agent based modeling arXiv:0803.2996v1 [q-fin.GN] 20 Mar 2008 JEL Classification: A10, A12, B0, B40, B50, C69, C9, D5, D1, G1, G10-G14. ∗Santa Fe Institute, 1399 Hyde Park Rd., Santa Fe NM 87501 and LUISS Guido Carli, Viale Pola 12, 00198, Roma, Italy yJames Tobin Professor of Economics, Yale University, New Haven CT, and Santa Fe Institute 1 Contents 1 Introduction 4 2 What is an equilibrium theory? 5 2.1 Existence of equilibrium and fixed points .
    [Show full text]
  • An Equilibrium-Conserving Taxation Scheme for Income from Capital
    Eur. Phys. J. B (2018) 91: 38 https://doi.org/10.1140/epjb/e2018-80497-x THE EUROPEAN PHYSICAL JOURNAL B Regular Article An equilibrium-conserving taxation scheme for income from capital Jacques Temperea Theory of Quantum and Complex Systems, Universiteit Antwerpen, Universiteitsplein 1, 2610 Antwerpen, Belgium Received 28 August 2017 / Received in final form 23 November 2017 Published online 14 February 2018 c The Author(s) 2018. This article is published with open access at Springerlink.com Abstract. Under conditions of market equilibrium, the distribution of capital income follows a Pareto power law, with an exponent that characterizes the given equilibrium. Here, a simple taxation scheme is proposed such that the post-tax capital income distribution remains an equilibrium distribution, albeit with a different exponent. This taxation scheme is shown to be progressive, and its parameters can be simply derived from (i) the total amount of tax that will be levied, (ii) the threshold selected above which capital income will be taxed and (iii) the total amount of capital income. The latter can be obtained either by using Piketty's estimates of the capital/labor income ratio or by fitting the initial Pareto exponent. Both ways moreover provide a check on the amount of declared income from capital. 1 Introduction distribution of money over the agents involved in additive transactions follows a Boltzmann{Gibbs exponential dis- The distribution of income has been studied for a long tribution. Note that this is a strongly simplified model of time in the economic literature, and has more recently economic activity: it is clear that in reality global money become a topic of investigation for statistical physicists conservation is violated.
    [Show full text]
  • Mary Mccarthy
    Mary McCarthy: Manuscripts for in the Manuscript Collection at the Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center Descriptive Summary Creator: McCarthy, Mary, 1912-1989 Title: Mary McCarthy, Manuscripts for The Group Dates: 1953-1964 Extent: 2 boxes, 1 galley folder (.63 linear feet) Abstract: The Ransom Center’s holdings for Mary McCarthy comprise her draft chapters, final manuscript, and galley proofs for the novel The Group . RLIN Record #: TXRC05-A10006 Language: English . Access: Open for research Administrative Information Acquisition: Purchase, 1968 (R4493) Processed by: Bob Taylor, 2003 Repository: The University of Texas at Austin, Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center McCarthy, Mary, 1912-1989 Biographical Sketch Born in Seattle on June 21, 1912, Mary McCarthy was the eldest of four children born to Roy and Therese McCarthy. Orphaned upon their parents’ deaths in the flu epidemic of 1918, Mary and her brothers eventually found refuge with their maternal grandparents in Seattle. Following her graduation from Vassar College in 1933, McCarthy, intending to pursue a literary career, moved to New York City, where she soon attracted attention for her essays and dramatic criticism. In the late 1930s she began to write short stories, several of which served as the nucleus of her first novel, The Company She Keeps, published in 1942. As one of the major figures in contemporary American cultural and political thought, Mary McCarthy wrote widely in fiction( The Oasis, Cast a Cold Eye, The Groves of Academe ), theater criticism( Mary McCarthy’s Theatre Chronicles, 1937-1962 ), memoir( Memories of a Catholic Girlhood and How I Grew ), and broad-ranging commentary( Venice Observed and The Mask of State: Watergate Portraits ).
    [Show full text]
  • THE ART of EMBRACING COMMODITIZATION by Eric Boudier, Anders Porsborg-Smith, and Martin Reeves
    THE ART OF EMBRACING COMMODITIZATION By Eric Boudier, Anders Porsborg-Smith, and Martin Reeves hina’s economic slowdown has led Understanding Advantage in Cto overcapacity in many sectors and a Commoditizing Markets significant fall in the prices of many com- Eventually, all products become commod- modities. Although many businesses will itized. (See “BCG Classics Revisited: The regard this as a short-term, cyclical chal- Growth-Share Matrix,” BCG Perspectives, lenge—one they can weather through June 2014, and “Adaptability: The New capacity adjustments—it may prove for Competitive Advantage,” BCG article, Au- others to be something entirely different. It gust 2011.) A company’s optimal strategic may mark the onset of commoditization, a response will depend not only on the in- secular and more severe challenge for which dustry’s current state but also on its likely businesses may be wholly unprepared. evolution. In attempting to gauge the latter, a company must try to determine whether Commoditization is not necessarily a death it can establish a sustainable position on sentence. (See “Escaping the Doghouse: the basis of any one of three factors: its Winning in Commoditized Markets,” BCG cost position; whether, and to what extent, Perspectives, April 2015.) But surviving it, there are imperfections in the market that or even benefiting from it, can entail dras- it can exploit; and its ability to redifferenti- tic measures, such as rethinking strategy, ate its product. (See Exhibit 1.) repositioning the company in the indus- try’s value chain, and overhauling its oper- Many businesses will instinctively lean to- ating model. Many businesses facing com- ward redifferentiating their product (if possi- moditization fail to respond with anywhere ble) or creating a cost advantage (if neces- near the required boldness or speed, how- sary), ignoring the opportunity to exploit ever.
    [Show full text]
  • Uyghur Dispossession, Culture Work and Terror Capitalism in a Chinese Global City Darren T. Byler a Dissertati
    Spirit Breaking: Uyghur Dispossession, Culture Work and Terror Capitalism in a Chinese Global City Darren T. Byler A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy University of Washington 2018 Reading Committee: Sasha Su-Ling Welland, Chair Ann Anagnost Stevan Harrell Danny Hoffman Program Authorized to Offer Degree: Anthropology ©Copyright 2018 Darren T. Byler University of Washington Abstract Spirit Breaking: Uyghur Dispossession, Culture Work and Terror Capitalism in a Chinese Global City Darren T. Byler Chair of the Supervisory Committee: Sasha Su-Ling Welland, Department of Gender, Women, and Sexuality Studies This study argues that Uyghurs, a Turkic-Muslim group in contemporary Northwest China, and the city of Ürümchi have become the object of what the study names “terror capitalism.” This argument is supported by evidence of both the way state-directed economic investment and security infrastructures (pass-book systems, webs of technological surveillance, urban cleansing processes and mass internment camps) have shaped self-representation among Uyghur migrants and Han settlers in the city. It analyzes these human engineering and urban planning projects and the way their effects are contested in new media, film, television, photography and literature. It finds that this form of capitalist production utilizes the discourse of terror to justify state investment in a wide array of policing and social engineering systems that employs millions of state security workers. The project also presents a theoretical model for understanding how Uyghurs use cultural production to both build and refuse the development of this new economic formation and accompanying forms of gendered, ethno-racial violence.
    [Show full text]
  • Taking an Integrated Approach to Improving Water Efficiency
    TECHNICAL BRIEF 4 Taking an integrated approach to improving water efficiency Do you see a pressing need for a realistic evaluation of water-use efficiency options in your country? Are you wondering exactly how your country can fulfill the “water efficiency” part of the WSSD target on the preparation of Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) and Water Efficiency Plans and use these to catalyze further improvements? This brief approaches the question of efficiency from an IWRM perspective, aiming to help policy makers and practitioners develop a strategic and integrated approach to improving efficiency. It builds on the discus- sion of water efficiency in Catalyzing Change, the GWP’s handbook for developing IWRM and water efficiency strategies, and emphasizes that efforts to improve effi- ciency should be directly linked to a country’s overall development goals. Committee (TEC) Technical Improving water efficiency allows countries to reduce water scarcity and maximize the benefits provided by existing water infrastructure. It also frees up water for other uses and reduces environmental degradation. Efforts to improve water efficiency can therefore contribute directly to the development goals of many countries, especially those that are chronically short of water or the capital to invest in water development. In 2002, the need to improve water efficiency was recognized and given new impetus by the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD). Article 26 of the WSSD Plan of Implementation, which sets an action target for the preparation of “IWRM and water efficiency plans” by 2005, makes reference to water efficiency in two different ways: • Art. 26 (a): “… introduce measures to improve the efficiency of water infrastructure to reduce losses and increase recycling of water” • Art.
    [Show full text]